Fatal Fallout by Lara Lacombe

Author:Lara Lacombe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Claire glanced up as Thomas closed his phone and tucked it into his pocket. She’d been trying to focus on the pages, but the low murmur of his voice in the background had distracted her. She hadn’t been able to get back into the mental zone of total concentration yet, and she was forced to acknowledge that their earlier almost-kiss had rattled her more than she wanted to admit.

“Sorry about that,” Thomas said with a sheepish smile. “It was my boss.”

“Everything okay?” Claire kept her tone even, hoping he couldn’t tell that she still felt shaken by what had almost transpired between them.

One shoulder lifted in an eloquent shrug. “He wanted an update.”

“And you don’t have one for him.”

He shot her a quick grin that made her stomach flip. “Not yet. But I bet I will soon.”

Ignoring his vote of confidence, Claire shook her head. “Was he upset?”

“Nah. Besides, he couldn’t really hear me. I don’t know what’s going on at the office, but the place sounded like a zoo. I had to repeat myself several times. I think the old man needs to invest in a hearing aid.”

Claire nodded absently, his words tugging at something in her brain. She turned them over in her mind, examining them from different angles, trying to identify what he had said that stuck out to her. Old man...office...zoo...

That was it! Zoo!

She shot bolt upright in the chair and reached for the papers, scrabbling like mad to gather them into a stack so she could read them one at a time.

“Um, Claire?” Thomas approached the table, concern in his voice, but she waved him away.

“Hush,” she said urgently. If he distracted her now, she’d lose the thread, and then she’d never find it again.

Her eyes scanned the pages, cataloging the first word on every sheet before moving to the next. Lion, zebra, hippopotamus...each page began with a seemingly random animal, a pattern she had noticed before. But what did it mean?

Several years ago, she’d taken Ivan to the National Zoo during a break in their block of meetings. It had been a wonderful spring day, and walking around the exhibits had been a nice way to enjoy the weather and have a friendly chat. He’d mentioned a memory he had of his daughter. Long ago, he’d given her a book of animal stories as a Christmas gift. She’d fallen in love with the illustrations of the animals, and when he’d finally taken her to see them in real life, she’d insisted on bringing her book along.

“She was so excited,” he’d said, recounting their trip. “She ran around to all the cages, comparing the real animals to the ones in her book.”

The book had to be the key.

She booted up her laptop, heart racing as she waited for it to warm up. C’mon, faster...

With a few clicks, she was searching the internet for a Russian children’s book on animals. It was a long shot, but it just might be the lead she needed.

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